Adjustable bar sieve for threshers



Sept. 30, 1947. s. E. ROSS I 2,428,294

ADJUSTABLE BAR SIEVE FOR THRESHERS Filed March 16, 1944 .INVEN TOR.

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Patented Sept. 30 1947 Sydney E. Ross, Peoria, Ill., assignonto Hart-Garter Company, Peoria,i-Ill., a corporation of Delaware Application Mar16, 1944-,seria1Na5 2a739 This invention has to do with the new andimproved form and construction of sieve or screen "of the type which isincorporated in grain handling farm machinery such as threshing machinesand is more particularly directed to the finger constructions of thetiltable slats of such screens or sieves.

The slats of the present construction are each made with a top wall anda continuous. wall extending from the rearward edge of the top wall,said [continuously extending ,wall having fingers spaced and dependingther from for the purpose of handling the grain and separating the strawtherefrom under the action of a winno-wing air stream supplied in theusual manner.

It is one of the main objects of the present invention to provide theslats with turned under frearward edges forming a part or" the rearwarddownwardly depending wall for the purpose of extending between adjacentpairs of fingers to 'counteract bending of these fingers out of the-ugeneral plane of the rearward wall and relative 'tothe top wall; andfurther to provide for reinforcing the fingers throughout their lengthsto "counteract flexing of any portion of each of these 2 fingers out oftheir normal predetermined po- 'Sitions.

" Another object of the present invention is to provide fingers havingfolded tips which are.-r'e1ativelyfiatand.parallel, all of said tipsbeing disposed in the plane of the direction of the airflow 1 ofthe'winnowing air stream. These folded tips provide straw guards and at thesame time provide relatively large openings for handling certain'typesof large kerneled grain.- At the sametime, the fingers are so shaped as'toalso accom- "modate a small kerneled grain under the same conditionsof use depending upon the amount of tilting of the'individual sieveslats by'mea'ns of the mechanism which is connected to said slats andwhich is adapted to'adjust the angular position thereof.

This invention also demonstrates the use of relativelyshort folded tipsfor the fingers as ;well1as relatively long folded tips eachrespecitively :being incorporated in interchangeable screens. Thisprovides further flexibility of grain handling and separating fromstraw; etc, in vieWo-f the fact that the use of the slats wherein thefolded straw guards or tips of the fingers are relatively short agreater amount of baffling or tilting of'the slats will be necessary tobring the larger finger spaces into play; whereas with the-form havingthe longer straw guards or folded fingertips a lesser amount ofbafilingis 2 required beforefthe maximum openings between fingers isexposed for active use during the winnowing operation.

Not only do the folded finger tips providea veryrigid straw guard, sincethey provide a substantial U shaped member inherently actively'resistingbending, but the fingers are also provided with suitable reinforcingedges that connect the folded finger tips with the under turned orfoldededges of the rear wall that is provided for extending betweenadjacent pairs of fingers.

It is also to be noted that the various formations of fingers hereindisclosed and described can all :be made from a single, original iormjof slat providing.a substantially fiat finger depend- Y ing iromthe'rearward wall and substantially banking the inturned edges of this rearwall .difs- I posed between adjacent fingers and which'substantiallyflat fingers may :be formed. into any of the finger slats disclosedanddescribedin this specification. This reduces manufacturing costs andsimplifies the construction of thefingered slats aswill be readilyapparent to those skilled in the art.

All other objects andadvantagesand salient features-inherent in thepresent sieve construction will hereinafter appear in the more detaileddescription, havingreference to the accompanying drawings illustratingcertain preferred embodiments of the invention. a

' In the drawings:

-Fig. 1 is a plan View of the screen or sieve incorporating the slats asconstructed according'to trate one application thereof;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional viewtaken the principles of thepresent invention to illussubstantially along the line 22 in Fig. 1'with'a portion of the middle of the screen frame broken away; i

' Fig. 3 is a face View from the rearwardside thereof of afragn'ientaryportion of one of the slats with parts broken away and in section, to

illustrate slats; 7

Fig. 4 is a similar' fragmentary portionofa slat with the fingersproviding a relatively large range of openings under the tilting actionoi the slat; Y Y

Fig. 5 is'a sectional view taken substantially along the line 5 -5 .inFig. 4 to show the semitubular construction of each of the fingers;

Fig. 6 is another form'of finger slat wherein the initial finger formingstage of the the finger tips have been folded;

Fig. 7 is a sectionalview of the rear edge "por- 3 tion of the slatsubstantially as taken along the line 1-1 in Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is another sectional view taken along the line 88 in Fig. 6 tofurther illustrate the details of construction of a slat with this typeof fingers; and

Fig. 9 is another fragmentary rear face view of a slat illustratingfingers somewhat modified from those illustrated in Fig. 6.

There are various ways in which the slats may be pivotally mounted in athreshing machine screen frame, and likewise there are several ways inwhich the tilting of the individual slats relative to the frame may beaccomplished. The slats may be relatively long and operated by tiltingmechanism which may be incorporated in the frame at either one side orthe other, or the slats may be divided on each side of a centrallylocated operating mechanism for tilting the same.

The latter is the type illustrated in Fig. 1 wherein a frame pivotallysupports a plurality of aligned slats i I. The operating mechanism iscontained within the center longitudinal supporting member l2 andincludes a shiftable rod or bar I3 pivotally connected at M to theU-shaped or Z-shaped crank ends I5 of the cross wires [6 to which theslats H are attached. As seen in Fig. 1 a shiftable arm or lever I! issuitably pivoted at l8 to the frame and has a link 20 pivotallyconnected thereto and to the shiftable connecting bar l3 as at 2| and 22respectively. Any motion of the arm or lever I! will obviously draw thebar l3 forward or backward to rock the crosswires it by reason of theconnected cranks l5 and the pivotal connections at M to the shiftablebar 13. Rocking of the Wires 16 about their pivotal points in the frameID will of course angularly displace each of the slats secured to thewires to cause the sieve or screen to function in the usual manner.

Referring now more particularly to Fig. 2, it

will be noted that each slat H is provided with a top wall 23terminating in a forwardly extending baffle portion 2Q which is bentunder and reversed as at 25 to be suitably secured to the Wires l6 as at26 in any desirable manner. Each slat is also provided with a downturnedrear wall as at 2'! from which a plurality of spaced depending fingers23 extend in the manner illustrated in Fig. 3. The edge portions 30between the adjacent pairs of fingers are turned under as at 30 tocooperate with the top wall forming channels which extend in alignedrelation longitudinally of the slat to reinforce the fingers againstflexing with respect to the top wall Of the slat.

It should also be noted as best illustrated in Fig. 3 as well as in planview in Fig. 1 that each of the slats are provided with a plurality oftransverse ridges 3! with troughs 32 therebetween, the troughs 32 beingaligned with the spaces between the fingers 28 and also with the turnedunder edge portions 30 which bridge and reinforce adjacent pairs ofrespective fingers.

The fingers illustrated in Fig. 4 are designated as 33 and are the sameas those shown in Fig.

2 in the cross-sectional view. The fingers 33 are made by bending backthe portions 34 and 35 of the blank fingers 28 in Fig. 3 substantiallyto the dot and dash line position indicated in the first two left-handfingers in Fig. 3. This forms a semi-tubular finger substantially asshown in the cross-sectional view in Fig. 5 that is reinforcedthroughout its length against local bending along the length of thefingers while the relatively long, narrow fingers wherein relativelylarge ranges of openings are obtained for handling a variety of largerkerneled grains without sacrificing the strength of the fingers butactually producing fingers which are stronger throughout their lengthagainst fiexing and which are substantially reinforced against bendingrelative to the top wall of the slat structure.

Referring now to Figs. 6, '7 and 8, the slat illustrated in this form isprovided with fingers 48 having folded tip portions ii which act asstraw guards. These fingers are readily made from the blank showing inFig. 3 by crimping in the portions 42 and 43 as illustrated in thecenter finger in Fig. 3 substantially at the points a and b as shown.This produces fingers having the tips dl as best illustrated in Figs. '7and 8 which are substantially or channel cross section and relativelyfiat with planes of these slat finger sections disposed substantially inline with the air flow of the winnowing air stream. Furthermore, as bestshown in Figs. 7 and 8, the fingers 46 are formed by the crimping actionwith reinforcing walls M and E5 edging these fingers and connecting theflat folded tips All with the reinforcing bridging portions Sill of therear wall 21. This readily counteracts any flexing of the finger itselfor of the fiat folded tips ll and by connecting with the bridgingportions between adjacent fingers, flexing of the respective fingersrelative to the top wall of the slats is readily prevented.

The fingers 5B in the modified form illustrated in Fig. 9 aresubstantially the same as in Fig. 6 with the exception that the foldedtips 50 forming the grass or straw guards are here somewhat longer forthe purpose of obtaining the greater finger openings with the minimumangular displacements of each of the slats of the screen. As is obviousin Fig. 6, with the use of finger types shown in Fig. 6, a greaterangularity will be re-' quired of the slats using this finger before thefull open position of the screen or sieve is obtained. As to theopenings 5! in Fig. 6 and 52 in Fig. 9 for handling smaller kerneledgrain under different baffling conditions, both open at substantiallythe same angularity but a greater winnowing range is possible withopenings such as 51 than with openings 52.

The foregoing description is directed to the preferred embodimentsdisclosed in the drawings to illustrate certain exemplary applicationsof the principles of the present invention. The invention is thereforenot to be limited to the precise details of construction, form orcombination of parts excepting insofar as shall be determined by thebreadth and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a thresher screen having a frame, winnowing slats pivotallymounted upon said frame, and means to adjust the angular positions ofsaid slats, said slats each comprising a top wall terminating in acontinuous wall depending from the rear edge thereof, said continuouswall having a plurality of fingers depending therefrom and having aninturned edge extending between each pair of adjacent fingers to providea bridge to prevent bending of said fingers relative to said top wall,and said fingers each having folded tips disposed with their fiat planesin th direction of .5 the winnowing air stream and with such flat planesdisposed at predetermined angles with respect to the common transverseplane of the face of the fingers, said fingers each having inturnededges connected between said folded tips and said bridge portions ofsaid continuous Wall to reinforce said fingers against bending in thelength thereof and to rigidly support said folded tips.

2. In a thresher screen having a frame, winnowing slats pivotallymounted upon said frame, and means to adjustthe angular positions ofsaid slats, said slats each comprising a top wall terminating in acontinuous wall depending from the rear edge thereof, said continuouswall having a plurality of spaced fingers depending therefrom 1 in thegeneral plane of said continuous Wall to allow passage of small graintherebetween, said fingers each having a portion thereof crimped to foldthe edges adjacent said portion substantially upon each other to form arelatively fiat straw guard along a portion of the finger lengths, saidflat straw guards each being disposed substantially at right angles tothe general plane of said continuous wall and in the direction of teractflexing of said fingers or said flattened portions thereof.

SYDNEY E, ROSS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 20 2,335,416 Holtzman Nov. 30,1943 2,278,393 Vutz Mar. 31, 1942 2,326,761 Collier Aug. 1'7, 19432,063,499 Hall Dec. 8, 1936 675,745 Lippy June 4, 1901

